Making Connections
by Wild Force Ranger
Summary: In the middle of a vanquish the sisters are aided by a strange girl, who vanishes before they can find out who she is...but Leo recognises her. Is she really here to help, or is she dragging her own demons with her? Powers, Book 1.
1. Default Chapter

Welcome to _Powers_!

This story follows on from _Allies, _a Power Rangers series, but you don't need to have read that one. (I hope.) This is a short(ish) story; really I'm only setting up things for a later story.

Anyone following me from _Allies: _Bear with me. The next series will feature characters from _Allies, _although it won't be set in that universe. Also, thanks!

Power of Four

"This is not normal." Piper said, staring at the demon they'd been fighting.

"After five years, you're worried about normal? Blow it up!" Phoebe reminded her.

"But he's stuck. He can't go anywhere."

"Yeah. How'd that happen?" Paige asked.

"Beats me." Piper said, circling the demon, who'd managed to get himself enveloped in rock to the point where he couldn't move. Only his face was free.

"You might want to vanquish him. I can hold him there, but he's smart enough to find a way out eventually." The sisters whirled to see a young girl standing behind them. In her late teens, she had blond hair and green eyes. Standing with her arms folded, she was gazing at the demon with remote curiosity. The only jarring thing about her appearance was a bow strung across her back.

"Who are you?" Piper demanded.

"Uh…demon? Feel free to vanquish him first. I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah, you say that now." Piper muttered.

"He's breaking free." the girl said calmly. They turned to see the demon had freed one hand. "Ah ah ah, naughty naughty. Behave." Stone flowed back over his hand before he could throw the fireball he'd been holding. "I can only do that so many times."

"Yeah yeah yeah. I'm doing it already." Piper blew the demon up without even looking at him, keeping her gaze on the girl. "Now who are you?"

"Kaia." She bowed. "It's nice to meet the Charmed Ones."

"Thanks. I think." Paige said. "So…who are you?"

"Kaia. Weren't you listening?" She looked back at Piper. "This is just a courtesy call. I won't be in town for long. I figured I should let you know I was here, though."

"Yeah. See, we still don't know who you are." Phoebe said.

"Ask Leo. He knows me." With that she turned and was gone before they could call after her.

"Well, that was…odd." Paige said.

"Yeah. Leo!" Piper called. Phoebe winced and moved away.

"Take it easy, Piper. Some of us still want the use of our ears, OK?"

Before Piper could retort, Leo orbed in in a swirl of color and light. "What's wrong? Is someone hurt?" He crossed automatically to stand next to his wife.

"No, we're not hurt." Piper said. "Thanks to a girl who helped us."

"A girl." Leo repeated.

"Yeah. Kaia." Phoebe said.

"She said you knew her." Paige offered.

"Kaia? I don't…how did she help you?"

"Covered the demon in rock so he couldn't move." Piper said precisely.

"Oh." Leo said slowly.

"You know who she is?" Paige asked.

"Maybe. I need to check with the Elders, though."

"Oh no you don't, mister. Take us home and tell us who she is before you go anywhere." Piper ordered.

"Piper, I…"

"Ah! Now." Leo nodded finally, wrapping his arm around Piper and glancing at Phoebe and Paige before orbing out.

"Well, this should be interesting." Phoebe said, taking Paige's hand. The pair orbed away.

"Spill, mister." Piper said. Leo nodded, pacing back and forth.

"I don't know if I'm right. But if I am…Kaia's not her real name. She was born Thariin, and she's not human."

"So what is she?" Paige asked.

"Elf. The last pure one left."

"Elf." Phoebe repeated slowly.

"Thariin has powers…stuff other Elves couldn't do."

"Elements, right?" Paige said. "Wood, earth…she's in the _Book of Shadows."_

"Right." Leo agreed. "She's not evil, so you don't need to vanquish her."

"So why is she here?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know. The last I heard of her she was in California. She doesn't…" he gestured briefly. "She's not like you. She doesn't seek out evil. She fights it if it threatens her, but if not she doesn't care much."

"So…there's something here threatening her?" Phoebe suggested.

"I guess, yeah. Unless she's traveling. She does that sometimes…what did she say?"

"She won't be here for long but she wanted to let us know she was in town. And that you know her." Piper recited.

"We've met. I wouldn't say I know her."

"When did you meet?" Paige asked interestedly.

"One of my first charges, a witch, was fighting a demon who could create earthquakes. They'd been fighting on and off for a week or so, and Thariin just…showed up, one day, and said she'd come to help us out. Lisa was desperate enough to accept, and they went off somewhere. I never found out what happened, but they vanquished the demon and Thariin left. I haven't seen her since."

"Does she work for the Elders?" Phoebe asked. Paige had gotten up and was standing at the window.

"No, Thariin very nearly predates the Elders. She's her own force, with her own Champions. And she's…"

"Sitting on our lawn." Paige interrupted.

"What?" Piper got to her feet and came to look out the window. Phoebe, with slightly more presence of mind, went to the front door.

"Kaia, right?" She hunkered a few feet away from her. "You wanna come in?"

"Did you know there's, like, a dimensional vortex-y thingy under your house?" Kaia opened her eyes and looked curiously at Phoebe. Beside the bow, a quiver of arrows now hung from her shoulder.

"Uh-yeah, we knew."

"What's up with that? Oh, no, never mind. You're witches, after all."

"So?" Phoebe asked.

"So your ancestors would naturally be drawn to places of high power. Doesn't it attract demons, though?"

"_We _attract demons. Do you mind coming inside? We shouldn't talk about this outside."

Kaia looked around in surprise. "They don't see us."

"Who?"

"Anyone. Your sisters do, and Leo does, but unless there's some other white magick user on the sidewalk, we're safe. And if they're white we're safe anyway, right?"

"You're…what, hiding us?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

Kaia looked surprised again. "Why not?"

"Kaia!" Leo called from the door. "Come inside, and stop confusing my girls."

"It's more fun that way, Leo." She didn't move until he strode across to stand over her, and then she held out her hand and made him help her up. "Did you miss me?" she asked, eyes dancing.

"I guess." Leo said casually, leading the way inside.

"You guess?" she repeated.

"Sure. Lisa missed you."

"Good kid, Lisa. Powerful."

"Yeah. You know the girls?" He gestured at Piper and Paige.

"Yeah. I do."

"So…what should we call you?" Paige asked.

"In this time and in this place, I am Kaia." Her laughing manner had gone; she was deadly serious now. "How good are they, Leo?"

"I've never seen stronger witches." Leo was equally serious.

"Even Paige?"

"Hey!" Paige objected.

"Sorry." Kaia said. "But you're relatively new at this."

"She's just as strong as the others." Leo said quietly.

"Good. May I see your _Book of Shadows_?"

"You said what?" Piper asked.

"Your _Book of Shadows._" Kaia repeated patiently. "I believe Cassandra Warren wrote something you'll want to see."

"Melinda's daughter?" Phoebe asked in surprise. "Paige, would you…"

"Sure." Paige held out both hands. "_Book of Shadows!" _The huge Book orbed into her hands and she laid it carefully on the table.

"What are we looking for?" Phoebe asked.

"Pyralis. He's an upper level demon, doesn't come out to play much."

"So why are we worried?" Piper asked.

"Because he's coming. And unlike most every other demon, he's not going to come see you first. He's just going to get on with killing everyone and everything in sight."

"Here." Paige said. "Pyralis. He doesn't look all that dangerous."

"The best ones don't." Kaia murmured.

"Sounds like something you could fight." Paige went on.

"What is it?" Phoebe asked.

"Pyralis controls and diverts lava and can control fire." Paige read. "There's no vanquish, guys."

"Because Cassandra didn't fight him." Kaia said. "Because I wouldn't let her."

"Who are you to let Cassandra do anything?" Piper asked.

"Pyralis attacks me. My earth. Me. Cassandra's Wiccan rituals were rooted much more in earth magic than yours are. She knew who I was and she listened when I told her to get the hell out of Dodge."

"She ran from this thing?" Phoebe asked in surprise.

"Pyralis was completing his cycle when Cassandra knew of him. He needed the heart of a Halliwell, or magical being of equal power, to complete his rituals. With Cassandra under my protection he couldn't get one in time, and when his window closed he was forced back to the Underworld. " Glancing at Leo, she added, "I don't follow the Elders but I did know the prophecy of the Charmed Ones, and I did what I could to help it along."

"So I guess we owe you." Paige said.

"No." Kaia rose to her feet, crossing behind Paige to look at the _Book. _"He set himself against me. And I couldn't stop him, only delay him. I needed you."

"Us?" Phoebe repeated.

"Yes. There's…there has to be a spell, right?" She looked at Leo again. "Cassandra was strong, but you three are so…I can't beat him on my own."

"How do you know he's coming?" Leo asked. Kaia made a face.

"I can feel him. It's like something burrowing around my insides. I can sense him coming."

"Sooo…how long do we have?"

"Not very. A few days, I guess."

"You guess?" Paige repeated.

"It's not a exact science. He's risen twice before, so I don't have a whole lot of experience to go on."

"Only twice?"

"Since I've been active." She didn't clarify, continuing to stare at the _Book._

"That's not much."

"No, it's not. He's way ahead of schedule, and I don't know why." Kaia sounded irritated.

"Well, try not to worry about it." Leo said. "We'll work something out."

"Yeah." Kaia started pacing again.

"Do you, uh…want a drink, or something to eat?" Paige asked.

"What? Oh…no, thank you." She dropped into a chair. "I'm sorry, I know I'm a bit…" she gestured briefly. "Off the walls? This guy…brings up bad stuff."

"It's OK." Phoebe assured her. "We're used to odd people…that didn't come out right." Kaia laughed.

"It's better than a lot of things I've been called. Paige? Some water would be really nice."

"Sure." Paige rose and headed into the kitchen, coming back after a minute with a glass of water. Kaia took a sip and then held the glass as she talked.

"At the most we have five days. He won't rise before tomorrow, anyway."

"You're sure?" Piper asked.

"I'm sure. He might send some minions after us, but he won't be here until tomorrow at the earliest."

"He has minions?" Phoebe looked up from her notebook.

"Pyralis rivals the Source for power. And he's not afraid to show it, either."

"What does he want?" Paige asked, looking at the _Book _again.

"Pyralis remembers when there were no living things on the earth; only him and his kind. He wants to return it to that." Leo explained.

"With him in charge." Kaia added. "I can keep you safe from him, and from his minions; but I can't stop him, only limit the damage. And the more damage control I'm doing, the less I can protect you. You need a spell."

"Well, you've come to the right place for that." Phoebe assured her.

"I thought so." She drained the rest of the glass and gave it back to Paige. "I need to…there's some things I have to do. Can I come back later on?"

"You want me to take you somewhere?" Leo offered.

"I don't have time to talk to the Elders, Leo, but thanks for the offer. I'll manage." Leo looked slightly abashed at that; Kaia rose to her feet and headed for the door.

"Kaia!" Paige caught her arm. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go do some things. It won't take long."

"Can I come with?"

"Why? Don't trust me?"

"There's that." Paige agreed. "But I wanna see what you do."

"There's not much to see. This time I'm going to watch, and you won't be able to see what I see."

"What are you going to watch?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"My newest Champion's going to be born soon. I need to see the birth."

"How can you tell?" Piper asked.

"I can't. Not for sure. That's why I need to see it." The girls looked at one another.

"There are people who are potential Champions." Leo explained. "Before Phoebe woke your powers, Piper, you were potential Champions. And Paige, you were a potential before you met the others. The Elders knew about you, but no one else would have…that's why no demons attacked you before that. _But, _if Phoebe hadn't read the _Book_, or if you'd never met the others, Paige, you never would have become Champions."

"Whoa, wait. Jeremy was after us for months before we got our powers." Piper protested.

"Because he knew your grandmother." Leo explained patiently. "So he knew you were going to be the Charmed Ones. If he hadn't known her…he couldn't have sensed you. No one could, not the way demons do now."

"A potential Champion of mine will be born soon," Kaia took up the explanation, "and I need to see the birth to see if he really is going to be mine."

"You'll know just from the birth?" Piper asked.

"This one, yes." Kaia grinned faintly, and then looked at Paige. "Still want to come?"

"Sure."

"We may as well really go, then. Can you orb me?"

"Sure…" she was a little more hesitant this time.

"Good. We're going to LA, then." To the others, she added, "We won't be very long."


	2. Chapter Two

Power of Four chapter 2

In fact, it was very early the next morning before they returned; Phoebe was still up, having just finished her vanquishing spell, but Piper and Leo had admitted defeat and gone to bed.

"Hey." she murmured. "Have fun?"

Paige started to say something, caught Kaia's eye, and thought better of it. "It was…different."

"Is he yours?" Phoebe asked, turning to look at Kaia. "The Champion?"

"He's mine." Kaia smiled. "Is that the vanquish spell?"

"This is it. Seven hours of work summarized in two lines."

"Will it work?"

"It always has before."

"Do we need a potion?" Paige asked, scanning the sheet of paper.

"Piper has it brewed…here." She handed Paige a tiny bottle and then tossed one to Kaia as well. "It won't hurt him coming from you, but it'll disorient him and give you a chance to get away, if you have to."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Kaia carefully placed the bottle on the coffee table. "If I used it, you never know what might happen. My magic tends to react oddly with other magicks."

"You have magic?" Phoebe asked in surprise.

"Hi, I'm an Elf."

"Yeah, but…"

"She has magic all right." Paige muttered. "Trust me on that."

"I did warn you first, Paige." Kaia said serenely.

"Yeah, but…"

"And you promised."

"I know." Paige sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"What happened?" Phoebe asked, looking from one to the other.

"Paige's worldview got widened. May I go sit in your garden?"

"Uh, sure."

"Thank you." Kaia wandered out and settled herself cross-legged on the lawn.

"So what really happened?" Phoebe asked.

"Her Champion's…from an interesting family. Sort of…unconventional."

"More unconventional than us?" Phoebe asked. "Come on, Paige, one of your brothers-in-law is dead, and the other was a demon who once ruled the Underworld."

Paige flinched slightly at the word 'demon' but Phoebe missed it. "They're…different. I'm gonna go shower."

"Um, Ok." Phoebe blinked as Paige practically ran from the room.

"Phoebe?" Leo came in from the living room. "What's going on?"

"I think Kaia's Champion freaked Paige out a bit."

"Why?"

"She didn't say. And all Kaia said was that Paige's worldview got widened."

"Kaia may not tell us. It probably won't occur to her. She's not…quite used to how people react."

"Why not?" Phoebe asked interestedly. They'd all read the two pages on Kaia…or Thariin…in the _Book of Shadows, _but there was little actual information there.

"Firstly because she's an Elf, and she'd have had little interaction with humans. Secondly because she just doesn't get involved with people, as a rule."

"Not true." Kaia said from directly behind him. "Not true anymore, anyway."

"Will you stop doing that?" Phoebe asked, lunging for the potion bottle she'd knocked over in her surprise. Leo caught it, handing it back to her before turning to look at Kaia.

"It used to be true."

"It did." Kaia agreed. "More years than I can number, and I never got involved with anything."

"What changed?" Phoebe asked quietly.

"I fell in love. And then…some other things. And I have friends, now." She smiled faintly. "Even when I was married, I didn't have friends. But now I do."

"Friends or Champions?" Paige asked from behind Kaia.

"OK, people, you're gonna have to stop doing that." Phoebe said firmly.

"Both." Kaia said at the same time, turning to look at Paige. "It's not an either/or deal, Paige."

"That's not what I…do you have friends who aren't Champions?"

"I guess I have you." Kaia said, a little tentatively.

Phoebe tugged on Leo's sleeve. "I thought we _were _champions."

"You are. Just not hers." Leo explained, looking back at Paige. "You two all done?"

"I am." Kaia edged around Paige and slid into a seat.

"Yeah." Paige said slowly. "I was just…wondering."

"Normal people get to have friends." Kaia said, apparently out of nowhere. "We get to protect the normal people so they can keep their friends. And they'll probably never know about it, but we do it anyway." She looked back up at Paige. "It's not fair, but it's how it is."

"It doesn't mean you can't have friends." Paige said quietly.

"I do have…" Kaia trailed off, staring past Paige towards the conservatory.

"Do have what?" Paige prompted her. Kaia ignored her, rising to her feet and drifting towards the windows.

"Phoebe, go get Piper." Leo said quietly.

"Leo, what's…"

"Pyralis is coming. Go get Piper now!" Phoebe blinked and then ran, dodging Paige on the way.

"How can you tell?" Paige asked nervously, palming her bottle of potion.

"Because there isn't anything else that could distract Kaia like that." Leo said grimly. "Kaia?"

Kaia shuddered, turning to look at him. "Leo…"

"Focus." Leo said quickly. "When?"

"Soon. Very soon." Paige blinked; Kaia's voice had gone singsong.

"Where?" Leo went on.

"Dancing and singing. Lights and music…" Kaia trailed off, looking away again. "Where the happy people are."

"Kaia!" Leo said loudly. Kaia shuddered, swaying slightly. Paige almost dropped her bottle trying to catch her in time.

"Are you OK? What happened?" Piper and Phoebe appeared in the doorway but neither spoke.

"I'm fine. It's…fine. I'm fine."

"You said that already." Paige let go and backed away a little bit.

"Where, Kaia?" Leo asked.

"I don't…I'm not sure. What did I say?"

"Dancing and singing. Lights and music. Where the happy people are." Leo repeated.

"Really? Huh. So I'm having a cryptic day, then." She looked up suddenly. "Piper? Don't you own a club? Like with music, and dancing, and happy people?"

"He's going to rise in P3?" Piper said. "Great. Just great. That's all we need."

"I guess…" Kaia's attention was going again.

"Kaia." Leo said quickly. "When?"

"An hour, maybe. I can't…Leo, I thought I could handle this but I can't. I _have _to start trying to fix what he's doing."

"What can we do?" Paige asked quietly.

"Nothing. Well, I mean, you can scry to be sure, and go and vanquish him…but you can't help me. I just…I have to go outside."

"Why?" Piper asked.

"I can't do anything from in here. This is…it's all man-made. I can't use it, not the way I need. Just…" She reached out towards the window: Leo intercepted her quickly.

"We'll use the door, huh?"

"Sure." Kaia shook her head, following Leo to the sunroom and out into the garden. Almost immediately she veered off the path and settled herself crosslegged on the grass; Leo hunkered next to her for a minute before coming back in.

"What's going on?" Piper asked. Leo crossed to stand beside her.

"She's trying to limit what Pyralis can do before you vanquish him."

"By sitting in the garden?" Phoebe asked.

"By blocking anything he tries to do. It's very tiring and she needs to concentrate totally on it." He glanced out the window. "She won't be able to do it for very long. A day at the most."

"I'll go get the scrying stuff." Phoebe offered, heading for the stairs.

"Paige, can you set up wards around Kaia? We'll have to go to wherever Pryalis is." Piper said.

"I thought…" Paige looked at Leo. "She said her magic and our magic sometimes react with each other."

"Don't cast the wards on her. Cast them on the piece of ground she's sitting on. She won't be moving, so you're safe."

"Oh. OK." Paige headed into the kitchen to find the herbs she needed.

"She be OK?" Piper asked. Leo shrugged.

"The wards should protect her. We just need to hurry."

"Why? I thought we had a day."

"She can't…if we wait too long she'll pour so much into stopping Pyralis there'll be nothing left for her."

"That could happen?" Paige asked, coming back in.

"Yeah. A few thousand years ago she had to walk away from her home rather than protect it, because she couldn't have saved it in time. But she's not doing that now, so we need to hurry. Paige, the wards?"

"I'm going." Paige went out to the garden. Phoebe came back in with the map just then.

"It's P3 isn't it." Piper said flatly. Phoebe nodded, carefully not meeting her sister's eyes.

"But it's really weak, so maybe if we hurry it won't be destroyed…" she trailed off as Paige came back in.

"Wards're up. Kaia…seems like she's asleep, only she's awake."

"What?" Piper asked.

"Her eyes are open, but I don't think she knew I was there."

"She knew. She just didn't have time to do anything about it." Leo said. "Look, we need to get to P3. We can talk about this later, ok?" He held out his hand to Piper, who took it. The pair vanished into blue sparkles.

"Someone's cranky." Paige muttered.

"Let's go." Phoebe came to put a hand on her arm and they followed Leo and Piper.


	3. Chapter Three

Author's note: Hey, Bonnie! Thanks for the review. Like I said, this is just a getting-to-know-you story; later on things get very interesting…

Power of Four chapter 3

The club was dark; Piper leaned over the counter to put on the lights.

"Anyone see anything?" Leo asked, looking around.

"There." Kaia was standing just inside the door.

"What're you doing here?" Piper asked.

"How'd you get out of the wards?" Paige added. Kaia looked up at her, faintly confused.

"You made them to keep things out, not in. He's rising there." She pointed at a spot no different from any other spot.

"You sure?" Phoebe asked.

"Unless he changes direction on me, yes."

"You're not here." Leo said suddenly, and she threw an irritated glare at him.

"Not the issue."

"Where are you if you're not here?" Paige asked.

"I'm sitting in your garden. You _know _that. This isn't the time for this."

"How did you know?" Phoebe asked Leo. He flinched slightly, taking a step back.

"What do you mean?"

"Guys, demon rising…" Kaia reminded them. "Talk about it later, OK? You have your potion?"

"Yeah yeah, we've got it." Piper said irritably.

"He won't be very responsive when he rises." Leo said quickly. "As long as he doesn't…"

"Call up lots of creepy little minions to try and kill us all?" Paige said urgently, backing towards the others.

"Damnit!" Kaia hissed, vanishing. Phoebe blinked in surprise.

"Kaia's gone." she reported.

"She wasn't staying anyway." Leo said. "Not with Pyralis this close to rising."

"Piper, behind you!" Phoebe yelled suddenly, and the scene degenerated into relative chaos as the minions attacked and the Charmed Ones fought back.

Kaia reappeared beside Leo suddenly, gesturing urgently. Leo couldn't hear her over the wind that had sprung up, but he didn't need to; it was fairly obvious what she was saying.

Pyralis was rising.

The minions broke away from the sisters and formed circles around the area of floor, gazing adoringly at it; Piper shuddered as they regrouped.

"Now that's just creepy."

"Minions." Kaia snorted in disgust. "_My _followers never do that for _me."_

"Do you want them to?" Paige asked.

"That's not the point." Kaia sniffed.

"Can we please focus here, people?" Phoebe asked.

"Really no. Sorry." Kaia said.

The floor was starting to erupt, humping upwards; tiny tremors moved through the room, knocking tables and chairs. Glasses fell behind the bar, and in the kitchen plates and pans went flying. The sisters stood in a sort of null zone within the destruction; the tremors didn't touch them.

"You doing that?" Piper asked Kaia.

"Ye—eah. I am. Why?"

"Just checking. Can you do it more?"

"Not for the whole club, if that's what you mean. See, what I'm doing in here? I'm also doing on a global scale, trying to stop Pyralis killing people."

Paige was fidgeting with her bottle, getting ready to throw it. "Can we stop him rising? If we do the spell now?"

"No." Piper caught her hand, stopping her. "Just wait, Paige."

Kaia turned suddenly, attention caught by something else. "I have to go."

"What? Why?"

"Just…I have to go. I'll be at the Manor when you get back."

"Kaia…" Piper started.

"Please, Piper. I have to go." Piper blinked, realizing suddenly that Kaia wouldn't go without her say-so, for all her protestations.

"Go…don't worry about us…"

"Throw the potion, say the spell…could do it in your sleep, huh?" She vanished before they could answer, and at the same time there was a roar as Pyralis appeared.

"This is unreal." Piper muttered.

Pyralis looked human. Blond, blue eyed, a little taller than Leo, he stood casually in the middle of his minions, smiling benignly at them.

"He's using a glamour." Leo said quickly. "Don't trust what you see. He's trying to fool you."

"We needn't fight." Pyralis said calmly. His voice was soothing, and the girls each felt the urge to give in. "You are protected. I will not come against you if you do not come against me."

"No deal." Piper muttered, nudging her sisters in the ribs. Phoebe gasped as if woken too fast. "Ready?" Piper demanded.

"It won't work." Pyralis said, voice losing a little smoothness now. "Better witches than you have tried."

"You won't mind if we try anyway then." Paige said brightly, hurling her bottle at him. It shattered against his chest, joined quickly by two more.

"Demon of smoke and fire and pain,

Banished now, never seen again!"

Pyralis stared at them. "Hmm. Didn't work, did it?"

"Phoebe…" Piper said warningly.

"Not your fault." Kaia was back, standing between them and Pyralis; he shied away from her, hissing. "Power of Two doesn't work. Paige didn't say the spell."

"What? I did so!" Paige protested.

"Thought you did. Pyralis uses glamour. You didn't say anything." She glanced back, smiling. "I'm an Elf. Say the spell again."

"The potion's gone." Piper pointed out.

"Still on him. Say it again."

The girls chorused the spell again; Kaia stepped back and was beside Leo when they finished.

Pyralis stared at her. "You…"

"You set yourself against me." Kaia said softly.

"You can't…" He was starting to smoke as the potion kicked in.

Kaia lifted her hand, as though blowing something away. "Take your minions with you." she said coldly. Pyralis laughed as the spell hit him full force and he began to disappear.

"They're not mine yet…" echoed through the room.

"Crap." Kaia muttered, fanning a hand in front of her face to clear the smoke. "Piper, the minions didn't vanish. They're about to…"

"Oof!" Phoebe yelled as someone tackled her, unseen through the smoke.

"Phoebe?" Paige called.

"Paige…ack!" Piper was likewise knocked off her feet.

"Leo?" Kaia's voice was high.

"Stop yelling, they'll know…" Phoebe cut off abruptly. Kaia dropped to a crouch, ignoring the screams around her, and concentrated on calling a breeze to clear the room.

"Great, now we can see who's kicking our ass!" Piper complained.

"Piper, some of them are human." Leo said quickly, catching her hands as she prepared to blow them up.

"You can't kill them." Kaia agreed.

"Great, so what are we supposed to do?" Piper demanded.

"Can you do that thing like you did to that demon earlier?" Paige asked.

"Not inside. And not to humans, they wouldn't survive it." Kaia said impatiently.

"They're under a spell." Leo said.

"So we need an anti-spell spell?" Paige said. "Phoebe?"

"What?"

"You're the spell guru. Come on."

Bizarrely, the minions kept attacking as they spoke. Paige and Leo orbed around the room, managing to avoid anyone touching them; Phoebe and Piper were holding their own; and no one went near Kaia, who was still couched near the stairs.

"Nothing like pressure to make you…" Phoebe cut off again, blocking an attack.

"Feel under pressure?" Kaia suggested, rising to her feet again. One of the minions, shrieking, rebounded off Piper and landed in front of her, staring at her dazedly before surging to his feet and preparing to attack. "Don't be an idiot." she said sharply to him.

When that didn't faze him, she unslung the bow, pulling it into position, nocking an arrow and aiming at his chest in one swift move. He froze, staring at her in disbelief. "Yeah. Try me."

"Kaia." Leo said from somewhere behind her. "He's human."

"I know that, Leo." Her aim didn't waver. "I don't have to kill him. I could just…" She shifted aim so fast none of them caught it. "…take his arm off. Or a leg, maybe."

Leo's hand caught her arm and forced it down, ruining her aim, and the minion scampered away.

"You're lucky I let you do that, Leo." She relaxed her arm, letting the tension in the bow fade away. "There aren't many I would."

Phoebe's voice rang out suddenly, her hastily-written spell catching the minions in their tracks; seconds later, Paige and Piper joined in, repeating the spell. Kaia watched in something approaching disbelief as, across the whole club, all the minions stopped what they were doing, dropped whatever make-shift weapons they'd been using, and simply wandered out.

"Nice timing, Phoebe." Leo said, carefully letting go of Kaia's arm and moving away.

"Yeah, you think you could have waited until I was bruised all over?" Paige asked. "Oh wait…"

"Very funny, Paige." Phobe said, staring around in dismay. "Aw, the club…."

"I can fix your floor." Kaia offered. "But that's about as much as I can do."

"Can you?" Piper asked in surprise.

"Yeah. You'll have to get the flooring re-laid, but I can fix the underneath part." She dropped to sit cross-legged on the floor, then she shook her head and stood up abruptly. "Only I can't do it split like this. I'll be back in a while." Before anyone could say anything she vanished again.

"I wish she'd stop doing that." Phoebe muttered, picking up a fallen table.

"Should I go get her?" Paige asked, directing the question to the room at large.

"There's no point." Leo said. "She won't be aware yet. She'll get here when she gets here."

"Yeah, stop trying to sneak off without helping." Piper put in, holding out a rubbish sack to her youngest sister.

"I am not!" Paige took the bag with as much dignity as she could muster and stalked away, starting to pick up the remains of Piper's glassware.

They worked in silence for a while, cleaning up as much as they could. Leo fixed several chairs and tables, Piper stacked unbroken crockery behind the bar, and Phoebe and Paige cleared away what couldn't be fixed. Kaia arrived a little over an hour later, pale and unresponsive, and fixed the floor before helping with the rest of the jobs.

"Kaia." She startled at a hand on her arm and looked up at Paige. "We're going. Are you coming?"

"Yeah." Kaia glanced around once. "Yeah. Let's go."


	4. Epilogue

Author's note: Is there any point in writing this? Is anyone actually reading it? Come on, guys, how long does it take to leave a review?

Power of Four epilogue

Piper came out of the kitchen at home later on, absently listening to her youngest sister talk with Kaia.

"Holy Ground?" Paige asked.

"Myth."

"Iron?"

"Myth. Well…no. Myth."

"Trees."

"Fact. Wait, what about trees?"

"Um, you live in them?"

"True. Like, six thousand years ago. I live in a house now."

"Hey." Piper leaned against the doorframe. "What's going on?"

"Kaia's straightening out the myths about elves for Paige." Leo said, getting up and coming to wrap his arms around her.

"You live in a house? That's oddly disappointing." Paige closed the _Book of Shadows _and looked up at Piper.

"Would it help if I said I have houses and property all over the world?" Kaia asked.

"No. Wait, where? Anywhere sunny?"

"Almost everywhere's sunny at some point. Ireland's sunny sometimes." Kaia rose to her feet. "Listen, I should get going."

"Right now?" Leo let go of Piper.

"Yeah, can't you stay?" Paige agreed.

"I really can't; my newest little niece is—oh—three weeks overdue tomorrow, and I have to head back."

"Aww, really? How many nieces do you have?" Paige asked.

"Um…one. When she's born. But I have a nephew! He's three." She frowned suddenly. "Actually, I think he's my cousin. It doesn't really matter."

"Wait, you don't know if he's your nephew or your cousin?" Phoebe asked, coming into the room.

"He's not actually anything to me. Neither is she. I'm not related to any of the parents. But I don't have to be. They're family anyway."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Phoebe looked apologetic. "I didn't mean…"

"No big." Kaia grinned. "I really do have to go, though."

"Come back and see us sometime." Paige said.

"Yeah. You can show us your niece and we'll show you ours." Phoebe added.

"Phoebe!" Piper protested.

"Thank you for vanquishing Pyralis." Kaia said, and for a minute her voice was oddly sing-song and she looked—taller, somehow. "You will be repaid."

"Hey…" Piper waved one hand. "It's what we do."

"There's no need for repaying." Leo added. "We're on the same side, after all."

"Yes…" Kaia frowned slightly. "Yes, of course. I don't…" she grinned embarrassedly. "I'm not really used to working with other people. I haven't been doing it very long."

"Well, stick with it!" Phoebe said brightly, when no one else said anything. Kaia smiled and bowed slightly.

"I will, thank you. Leo? Can I impose?"

"Sure. Where are we going?"

"Turtle Cove, California." He held out a hand and she bowed once to the sisters and took it. They vanished in a swirl of blue light.

"Well, that was…interesting." Piper said after a while.

"Better than most of the unannounced visitors we get." Phoebe pointed out. "Remember Cupid?"

"He was cute!" Piper said.

"Wait a minute, Cupid? When did that happen?" Paige asked.

Piper and Phoebe shared a look. "We'll tell you when you're older." Phoebe promised.

"Aw, come on! I'm older than you were when you started!"

"You're not old enough for the Cupid story."

"Come on!"

"Paige, no!"

"Is he in the _Book_? I bet he is! _Book of Shadows_!"

"Paige, no! Piper, grab it!"

"Help! Ow, Phoebe, get off me!"

Piper rolled her eyes. "At least Kaia doesn't have sisters to put up with…"


End file.
